ISLAMABAD According to officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Director General (DG) of Hajj, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) are the only people who can resolve the matter regarding the fate of the remaining 67,000 applicants, The News reported on Thursday.
As the aspirations of thousands of Pakistani Hajj applicants to participate in the trip this year waned, the officials gave separate briefings to the Senate Standing Committees on Religious Affairs and the National Assembly.
The officials’ announcement that private Hajj operators, who had received pilgrims’ advance payments and sent them to Saudi Arabia, would not be able to obtain a complete reimbursement of the unused money only made matters worse for the applicants.
